507 libraries (436 buildings and 71 mobiles) currently under threat or closed/left council control since 1/4/11 out of c.4517 in the UK (see the complete tally on the link on the right)


Changes
Buckinghamshire (plus 2) – £700k cut: 16 out of 23 under threat of closure if volunteers do not run them; Castlefield, Chalfont St Peter, Farnham Common, Flackwell Heath, Gerrards Cross, Great Missenden, Haddenham, Iver Heath, Ivinghoe, Long Crendon, Stokenchurch, Wendover, Wing, Winslow. Plus 2 under threat in 2012 – Micklefield and Bourne End which are to be “reviewed” when £1.5m lottery money runs out in April 2012 
Cumbria (plus 20 buildings and 3 mobiles) – 20 branches under threat (30 libraries to remain staffed, all others to be volunteer-run with visiting library staff) – Denton Holme, Harraby and Morton in Carlisle, Moorclose in Workington, Hensingham, Kells Mirehouse in Whitehaven, Shap, Distington, Frizington, Gosforth, Seascale, Seaton, St Bees and Thornhill. All three mobiles to close; £6m budget “to be maintained”; “the plan would be for” rural libraries to be volunteer-run;  £80k (sic) cut from £6m budget; consultation from April 6 to June
Hackney – Consultation 18 April – 27 June 2011; all libraries to be kept open; new Dalston CR James Library to be opened in 2011; opening hours to change in all libraries; events to be solely at new library, Hackney Central and Stoke Newington; more volunteers (1 library already entirely staffed by volunteers)
Hull (Plus 2 buildings and 1 mobile) – 2 libraries (Preston Road and KC Stadium)  under threat as is 1 mobile library – compare with pro-library statement by Leader of Council 
Nottinghamshire – Newspaper provision reduced

News
Books without batteries: the negative impacts of technology – Publishers Weekly
Councils sitting on cash savings worth billions despite service cuts – Telegraph “Despite the ‘savings’ many councils are planning to cut services such as libraries”
From Page to Stage: Should more libraries become theatres? – Guardian “The experience takes less than an hour, but it lingers in the memory. The next occasion you take up a book, in the tube on the way home say, or later that evening in bed, it is difficult not to do so with a greater degree of wakefulness, to enjoy the weight of the book in your hand, the feel of it, the strength of it, and to pay much closer attention to your reading voice.” (The Quiet Volume)
Libraries cater for the middle classes, not the deprived, says John Redwood – Guardian 

“The vast majority of people use libraries … Public libraries serve nearly everyone apart from incredibly rich people like John Redwood and the culture minister. Everyone else needs a library.” (Alan Gibbons)

News by Authority
Buckinghamshire – Micklefield and Bourne End libraries could be drawn into spending cuts plan – Bucks Free Press
Buckinghamshire – Chief calls on communities to save libraries – Buckinghamshire Advertiser – 14 libraries to be run by volunteers or closed; “”Compulsory redundancies are a very last resort.”
Buckinghamshire – Cash strapped council agrees library cuts – Bucks Free Press
Buckinghamshire – 14 of Buckinghamshire libraries to be run by volunteers – Mix96 “This development comes at a time when budget pressures mean that all council services are being challenged to find new ways of delivering services. The County Council believe that increasing community involvement and tailoring services to the needs of the community is the best way forward to ensure a sustainable future for all 26 libraries in Buckinghamshire.”
Cumbria – Views sought on Cumbria library shake-up – BBC
Cumbria – 20 Cumbrian libraries facing the axe in shake-up – News & Star
Cumbria – Don’t consign libraries to the history books – News & Star

“Cumbria County Council’s plan for a libraries shake-up could see 20 small branches shutting in a scheme promised as an update, rather than a cost cut. Cynics might invite a pulling of the other leg. Shifting borrowers to village shops, pubs and community centres and expecting them to wait a week for one of only 400 popular titles doesn’t immediately strike as progress. In fact, it smacks of running local library services into terminal illness. Can the end be very far away?”

Hackney – Have your say on the future of Hackney’s Libraries and Archives – Dalston People
Hull – Libraries and Hull City Council centres set to shut under cuts – This is Hull and East Riding
Nottinghamshire – Newspaper cuts at libraries – Worksop Guardian
Warwickshire – Warwickshire CC Proposal versus two alternatives – WhatsinKenilworth